Tent-supporting structure.



A. O. HOMME.

TENT SUPPORTING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12. 1915.

1,177,949. I Patented Apr. 4,1916.

- fln'ruNUHuMME THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60., WASHINGTON. D. c

ANTON o. HOMME, on ROSEA-U, MINNESOTA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented Apr. 4,1916.

Application filed February 12, 191-5. SerialNo. 7,862.

To all whom it may concern: Beit known that I, ANTON O. I-loMMn, citizen of the United States, residlng at Roseau, in. the county of Roseau and State specification.

of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tent-Supporting Structures, of which the following is a p This invention relates to tent supporting structures, and it has for its object the provision of improved means for supporting a tent withouttheuse of the usual centerpoles ordinarily employed for that purpose. It isfrequently the case that it is desired to employ tents for suchpurposes that poles in the center thereof would be highly objectionable, as for instance, in shooting gal leries By' virtue: of the structure" herein show'n a-nd described I am enabled to firmly support the tent without the employment of such center poles.

Further objects andadi- 'antages of the invention will beset forth in the detailed descriptionwhich now follows.

In the accompanying drawing Figure l is a side elevation of one of the supports; with the fabric of the tent illustrated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a modified-view illustrating one of the usual center poles cut off and utilized inth 'e construction of the device. Fig. 3 is a further modification illustrating a form of the invention adapted for use in conjunction with a type of tent known as a cottage tent, and Fig. 4: illustrates a plurality of the devices in edge elevation showing how a large tent may be supported at a number of points.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to the structures shown in Figs. 1 and 4 the numerals 5 designate the poles employed by me for supporting the sides of the tent. These poles are provided with pins 6 at the top thereof which pass through bracket plates 7 bent to the angular formation shown and secured at 8 to the under sides of the rafters 9. Attached by fastening devices 10 to the upper ends of the rafters are the plates 11 of the curvature shown. One of these plates is attached to each side of each rafter and consequently the rafters are in effect, provided with bifurcated upper ends. The upper ends of the rafters embrace the body portion 12 of a standard 13 and are secured thereto by a bolt 14 which passes through the plates 11 i and through the body of portion 12. The standard 13 is provided with-a head 15 so shaped as to conform to the shape of the peak of the tent and a pin 15 upstanding therefrom passes through the topof the tent indicated at 16. It isof course to be understood: that a plurality of the structures shown'in Fig. 1 willbe employed.- This is clearly illustrated in Fig. 4:. As man ofthese supports may be employed as is de-' manded by the length ofthe tent. Projecting from the lower part of the-head 1-2 of each of the standards 13 is a threaded stem 17 upon which nut 18 is threadedto force angle plates 19 upwardly-against;- the under side of the rafters to thereby renderthe structure rigid in a manner that will be well understood. This rigidity of the struc tureisincreased by the provision of wires or cables 20 which are secured at one end to one of the rafters 9' as at 21 and at the op? posite end each cable is attached to aswiveled turn-buckle 22 by which it may be drawn upon in a-manne'r well understood.

Lock nuts 23 are employed for holding the turn-buckle in: it's adjusted position. v

In the forin of the; device illustratedirt Fig. 2 the structure is substantially the same as that shown in" Fig. and the refer:

ence'numerals have been applied to the various parts where the parts are the same.

The only difference is that in this case the central standard 14 is formed by one of the usual center poles of the tent here indicated as 13. In this case the pole has been cut off so that it projects but slightly below the wire or cable 20 and it is provided with a slot in its lower end which takes over this wire. The upper end of the pole carries the usual pin here indicated as 15 which passes through an opening in the top of the tent in the usual and well known manner.

In the form of the device illustrated in Fig. .3 the rafters here indicated as 9 carry the angle plates 7 at their lower ends which take over the pins of poles 5 in the manner hereinbefore set forth, but in this case the upper ends of the rafters are provided with straight plates 11 and these plates form bifurcated upper ends of the rafters which description taken in connection with an inspection of the drawing that the structure herein shown and described is well adapted to support in a rigid and secure manner the fabric of the tent without the employment of center poles.

It is frequently desired to employ tent like structures of a portable nature for such purposes that the center poles would be highly objectionable. For instance, photographers who desire to move readily from one locality to another frequently employ tents and center poles would be objectionable in devices of this nature. The same thing is true of shooting galleries and many other businesses.

While theelements herein shown and described are well adapted to serve the purposes for which they are intended it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth but that it includes within its purview such changes as-come not only within the terms but with-,

in the spirit of thevappended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A tent supporting structure comprising a pair of rafters, a central ridge supporting member, means carried-by said ridge supporting member for supporting the fabric of a tent in spaced relation to the rafters, adjustable means for limiting the movement of the rafters, toward each other, and means for drawing the, lower ends of said rafters toward each other.

2. In a tent supporting structure, the combination with a central ridge supporting member, of a pair of rafters, means for pivotally connecting the upper ends of said rafters to said ridge supporting element, an angle plate beneath said rafters at their junction, and means for drawing said plate into engagement with the ends of the rafters at their junction.

3. In a tent'supporting structure, the combination with a central ridge supporting member of a pair of rafters, means for pivotally connecting the upper ends of said rafters to said ridge supporting element, an angle plate beneath said rafters at their junction and means extending between said rafters for drawing their lower ends toward each other until stopped by said angle plate.

4. A tent supporting structure-comprising a plurality of pairs of rafters, and a plurality of ridge supporting members eachof the rafters of a pair being pivotally'connected to said ridge supporting members and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom, said ridge supporting members com prising threaded extensions extending below the pivotedends of said rafters, angle plates fitted upon said extensions and nuts for drawing said angle plates into engagement with the undersides of said rafters whereby.

other may be fixed.

the angle of the rafters with relation to each' a .i

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature,

Witnesses:

M. J. HYLAND, V. B. CHAPIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G. 

